


Penumbra

by Ursa_Tattoo



Series: Undarcop AU [1]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: (the POV character isn't the one having flashbacks dw), Alternate Universe, Character Study, Drabble, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Undar!Benny, Undarcop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 05:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ursa_Tattoo/pseuds/Ursa_Tattoo
Summary: Penumbra. Noun, English. A partial eclipse.For rnainframe's Undarcop AU.Rex's masks have to drop sometime.





	Penumbra

**Author's Note:**

> This one was for the prompt 'penumbra' on Discord; it's got rnainframe's Undarcop AU central to it, so go through his Undarcop tag on tumblr to see more about that!

Even knowing who this is, knowing who he used to be, it's hard to see a trace of Emmet Brickowski in Rex. Not impossible, but difficult.

Powers and Rex have a system, you see. Not that either will admit it, but they've got a way they do things. The only person allowed to fuck with that is Cosmo, and that's only because Rex is pretty obviously in love with him.

The point is, Rex and Powers have been around circling each other in a careful dance for a long time. Rex's smug bravado, Powers's deadpan hate, swirling around without ever actually doing long term damage. So Powers is entirely unprepared to arrive on the Rexcelsior and find Rex in the aftermath of a flashback, shaking and murmuring to himself as Cosmo and the raptors hold Rex, helping him calm down.

Powers's footsteps are quiet and everyone present is currently occupied, so they don't notice him watching as Rex pulls at his own hair, mumbling out a series of names and places and anything else he and Cosmo can think of. He looks younger in his panic, but just as tired.

For a few moments, Powers can see past the marker, past the bravado, past every layer of misdirection Rex places around himself to make himself look stronger. Rex Dangervest, the name, the identity, eclipses Emmet totally, but when he's like this? It's a penumbra. A partial eclipse, the light still shining through on the edges. A broken Emmet beneath the masks.

Powers leaves without a word. This isn't for him to witness, not for him to see.

If there's some sugary coffee and a croissant left for Rex when he comes out of his stupor? It's just another part of the cycle.


End file.
